Mazda RX-7/RX-8 successor, aka RX-9 coming very likely in 2017

Mazda RX-8 production ended in late 2011 and the successor has been rumoured for a while now.

The RX-8 was an interesting sports car with short rear suicide doors, though to enthusiast it was not as interesting as the more iconic RX-7.

This time Australia’s Motoring.com.au reports that the successor is scheduled for a 2017 launch.

Just as the RX-7 and RX-8, the new model will also come with a rotary engine. Earlier reports this year talked about a newly developed rotary engine with around 300bhp using an electric supercharger, but new details suggest it could be also turbocharged, producing around 455bhp with power sent to the rear wheels.

The new model is likely to be called RX-9 as Mazda recently registered the nameplate in Japan’s trademark office.

Market launch in 2017 sounds very likely as it would also mark the 50th anniversary of Mazda’s first-ever rotary-powered production car, the Cosmo Sport, which was launched in 1967.

Even though Australians are reporting the new RX-9 will ride on an extensively modified platform of the discontinued RX-8, it is more likely that the RX-9 shares its platform with the next-generation MX-5.